Hi, I’m Richard. I’m an IT professional and network engineer with over two decades of experience designing, building, and securing enterprise networks and server infrastructure.

Where It Started

I owe my career in technology entirely to my parents. Long before the internet as we know it today, they ran a Commodore 64 BBS out of a spare room in the 1980s. I grew up with a keyboard always within arm’s reach.
I still clearly remember my first time jumping onto the World Wide Web through a text-only remote terminal. It was the Wild West of computing—no search engines, no online shopping, and often no DNS. If you wanted to visit a site, you were typing in an exact IP address you found buried in a forum post somewhere. Built-in firewalls and security software simply didn’t exist yet. My earliest networking circle was made up of the regulars on my father’s BBS: an incredibly smart, wonderfully eccentric, and socially awkward group of people who first showed me what connected computers could really do.

The Professional Journey

Currently based out of Northern California, I’ve spent the last 20+ years getting my hands dirty across almost every facet of the IT world. My career has spanned roles ranging from Technical Writing and System Administration at Intel Corporation to IT Operations Management, giving me a 360-degree view of how technology directly drives and supports business.
My day-to-day involves managing everything from clustered NetApp storage and virtualization environments (VMware and Proxmox) to automating workflows and maintaining complex Atlassian data center stacks for users worldwide. Whether I’m deploying robust network redundancy for critical systems or managing virtual infrastructure, my core focus is always on building resilient, scalable, and secure systems.

Core Expertise & Specialties

• Virtualization & Cloud: VMware vCenter/ESXi, Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, AWS (EC2, VPC, IAM), and Docker containerization.
• Networking & Security: Cisco (Catalyst, ASA), pfSense, Ubiquiti, Juniper, FortiGate, and hardware-level MFA enforcement.
• Systems Administration: Enterprise Linux (Ubuntu, Red Hat, CentOS) and Microsoft Windows Server.
• Automation & Scripting: Python, Bash, PowerShell, and Ansible.
• Storage & Backups: NetApp (AFF/FAS), Veeam Backup & Replication, and SAN/iSCSI environments.

Certifications

• Cisco CCNA Routing & Switching (ICND-2)
• Cisco CCENT (ICND-1)
• CompTIA Network+
• CompTIA A+

Beyond the 9-to-5

For me, technology isn’t just a career; it’s a constant area of exploration. I’m usually tinkering with my own infrastructure and recently deployed a 2.5GbE network at home, complete with 10GbE fiber optic links between switches.
When I actually manage to step away from the server rack, you can usually find me experimenting with modular synthesizers, tweaking my digital photography management workflows, or spending time with my daughter.